Ten Croydon schools have won national awards for their arts coverage.
The schools were recognised with Artsmark awards for dedicating significant teaching time to arts including theatre, music, dance and photography.
Five of the schools achieved Gold awards, the highest possible level.
Tim Davies, headteacher of Addington High School, a visual and media arts college that won a gold award, said the school was “extremely pleased” to win recognition.
He said the school, which already works with organisations like the Tate Gallery and the Royal College of Art, is always looking for new approaches to the arts.
Mr Davies said: “The next stage for us will be to build an alliance with a university that has strong arts and media coverage.”
The Artsmark awards are granted by the Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts. Almost 200 schools across London received the awards, which have three levels (Artsmark, Artsmark Silver and Artsmark Gold), this year.
Moira Sinclair, the London executive director of the Arts Council, said it was “wonderful” that so many London schools had been recognised. She added that Artsmarks are a tribute to “many schools’ passion for the arts and belief in the power of creativity”.
The five Croydon schools that won gold awards were: Addington High, Elmwood Junior, Fairchildes Primary, Shirley High School Performing Arts College and St Joseph’s Junior.
Five other schools in Croydon won silver awards: Keston Primary, Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College for Girls, Courtwood Primary, The Hayes Primary and another school that did not wish to be named.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here